Major Memory, Lapsed Love
by GirlWithTheInkStainedSoul
Summary: one accident, no memory, one person's guilt, a whole lota flashbacks, and of course, an awaited love
1. Nothingness

"Toph! Look out!" Rocks began to run down from above; there was no way to escape. The rumble filled her ears, and she tried to bend herself to safety, but she couldn't. Instead she saved him.

The constant boulders, the thunder-like crashes of falling earth, his screams, and then silence. And then darkness. Nothingness.

His arms around her. His muffled cries for help, unheard screams. "Ka…ng…" That voice unheard. Then in the faintest of whispers: "Toph…" The remorse, the pain in that one voice. Another whisper…directed to who? Himself? Her? "You'll be ok…you'll be ok…" A fallen tear, a wet feel, a droplet, on her skin. One last cry. And then quiet. And then nothingness.

"Katara, you have to heal her. _PLEASE_." Male, definitely. The one who screamed, who cried.

"I'm trying Sokka, just calm down." Such a sweet, calm voice. Seemed bossy though…

Cold, trembling hands touched her cheek, then moved a strand of hair from her face. She tried to open her eyes, tried to say she was ok, but she forgot how to speak. It didn't matter, she was too tired, it would take too much energy, too much pain.

Someone pacing in the distance, and then another pair of hands, warmer, moving around her arms, then legs, chest, stopping at her head. Water touched her skin, fingers, toes, coldest near her scalp. She tried to open her mouth, tell them where the real pain was. Nothing came out… Another male voice: "Sokka, let's go." An answer, almost too quiet to hear: "I won't leave her. …my…it's my…fault." Confusion. Pain. Darkness…Nothingness.

"What do you mean there's nothing you can do?! There must be something! Stop it Aang, leave me alone…get OFF!"

"Aang, you have to get him out of here, he isn't helping the problem. I'll need to heal her in quiet, and I can't concentrate with his screaming and yelling."

"The hell you can! LET GO!"

"Sokka, look at her! She's in this state because she saved you. If you want to help so badly, let Katara do her job, let her do what she can, but there's nothing you can do until then. Come on, we need to talk."

Sokka only stared at Aang, a pondering look upon his face. The rush of emotions a mix. For the first time in a while he kept silent. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it again. The pain in his voice echoed throughout the marble walls of the temple.

"…You're kidding right? Look at her Aang, look! This is MY fault, and I'm not going to leave her side until I know everything is ok. I won't!"

Aang and Katara looked at each other, they hated to do it, but they knew what they had to do.

"You want to help so badly Sokka? Alright, help Aang fetch me some water so I can heal her worst wounds. He can't just bend it over here, it may pick up something in the air. Go on, hurry!!"

Sokka wanted to help so badly that he didn't care what it was that he would get stuck doing, anything to occupy his time, anything to help get her off his mind.

"Let's go." Aang said in a calm voice, trying not to anger Sokka anymore than he already was.

"Right," was all he could say in reply.

They carried a clay jug over to the fountain that they had used to fetch their water in so many times ago. It was the same fountain that Aang and Sokka had carried Toph to only weeks ago.

**FLASHBACK**

"_Come on Dunderhead, hurry up and get me to the water, I'm dying over here!"_

"That wouldn't be such a bad thing sometimes_," Sokka mumbled under his breath. No matter how quiet he tried to be, she always seemed to have the ability to hear him._

"_Cute," she replied, but only after bending him neck deep in marble. _

Aang strayed him away from his thoughts.

"Listen, Sokka, you can't blame yourself for this, To-"

"Save it, Aang, I really don't need to hear it. I know your trying to be a good friend and all, but nothing you say can help me. I'm responsible for this, and if she…"

Sokka couldn't find the power to continue, but a flash of Toph's face came to his mind and he knew what he had to say needed to be said.

"…if she doesn't come out of this ok, I'm going to be blaming myself for the rest of my life. It **IS** my fault she's like this, if she hadn't tried to save **me**…"

"If she hadn't tried to save you, you'd both be dead! You wouldn't have been able to bring her to Katara, it would have been to late. Stop blaming yourself!"

Sokka looked up at Aang, he had been starring at his feet for sometime, but said nothing. The fear in his voice was hidden, but the anger was apparent. Who was he angry at, himself? Sokka? Did it matter? Sokka, still starring at Aang, only shook his head and continued walking.

Each boy carried of side of the vase and dipped it into the fountain, filling it will cool, shining water. Sokka could only stare, although reflective, almost gray, see-through, the water reminded him so much of Toph's eyes. Deep…dead.

The water caused a weight on the vase that both boys expected, and the slowly carried the water back to Katara, careful not to allow any to spill. Water only caused the marble to be more slippery than it already was, and neither wanted to cause more troubles for the waterbender.

**BACK AT THE CENTER OF THE TEMPLE**

"Come on, Toph, please."

With the little water she had, Katara tried to heal the little earthbender to the best of her ability, but it wasn't enough. She knew that it would have been faster for Aang to bend the water to her, but she knew that she had to get Sokka away from Toph, even for a short time. She hoped that Aang had calmed her brother down. She knew how much he cared for Toph, and although he never said it, Katara knew that he l--

"Uhh…" This sound came from Toph, a low groan, which caused Katara to look down at the little earthbender, surprised, yet expecting. Toph was the strongest girl Katara knew, and if anyone could get through this, it was her. Katara kneeled down to Toph and tried healing her again. At least she was alive.

"Well?" Aang tried to sound composed enough for both him and Sokka, who would have screamed such as question if Aang hadn't beaten him to it.

"I need the water," but instead of waiting for the boys to carry the vase to her, she bended the water, smoothly and gracefully, covering small areas of Toph's skin with puddles of water.

Sokka tried not to show surprise in his face, Katara said that she didn't want Aang bending the water through the air. He looked from his sister to his best friend, but both had their eyes focused on the young girl. It wasn't important. Only she was now.

Sokka sat patiently, waiting. He hated that. Sitting, waiting. He wanted to scream, hurt what ever it was that had caused this problem. Wait. What did cause this problem? His mind quickly drifted away from Toph, Aang, and Katara. He was now back to that morning. Back to where it all began…


	2. Accidents Happen

"Nothing

"Nothing! There is nothing within this whole temple to hunt! Absolutely nothing! At this rate, we're going to have to eat Momo."

Angry cheeps could be heard from behind Aang. Momo wasn't very happy about Sokka's comment.

"Don't worry little buddy, we won't eat you. There wouldn't be enough for everyone."

_Cheep!_ And with that the lemur flew off.

Laughter. "Are you sure there's nothing here? Maybe it's just your horrible hunting skills. Either that or your scent is scaring all the possible food away, or for that matter killing it."

"What's your deal Zuko? Is the scarred prince mad that he hasn't had one of his big gourmet meals since he left his palace? Or are you just jealous that Sokka is a better hunter than you are? At least he's trying. What have you done in the past few days besides "practice" your dragon dance and yell at Aang for getting his bending forms wrong? Trust me; I'm his earthbending master, that isn't the way to do it." 

Sokka gazed at Toph, surprised and thankful all the same. Not to mention he was blushing. Had she just defended him?

Zuko gave them both a rude glance, then walked away.

"Uh, thanks?"

"Don't mention it Snoozles. And don't get used to it either. It's always fun to piss Zuser off anyway." Toph smiled, facing the general direction of Sokka. One of the disadvantages to being blind: she didn't know if she was ever looking at his face. But with her honed senses, she could tell that he was still wielding his hunting tools, and decided that she needed _something_ to do today.

"Come on, let's go."

"Where?"

"Hunting, you _do_ need help. Oh, but…take a bath first. Zuko was right about the smell."

And with that she walked off, leaving Sokka more confused then ever. 

Later that day the couple found a few animals worth hunting. Or rather, Toph found them. It was Sokka's job to kill though, for the world's great earthbender, she hated that. The first creature they came across was a young mooselion cub, of which Sokka refused to kill. Toph only shrugged, thinking of the mooselion **mother** that had almost beaten Soka _and_ Aang to a pulp. The next to be found was a baby badgermole, and before Sokka could even think about going after it, Toph swiftly bended him behind her. Sokka, surprised, only starred while Toph picked the small, trembling creature up. The badgermole was the size of the earthbender's fist, if anything smaller, and while frightened of Sokka, the tiny creature calmed down and rested in the girl's palm. Toph smiled, and as quietly as she could created a tunnel in the earth, laying the badgermole at its foot, and the furball squeaked in thanks, and ran inside. Toph smiled, a rarity to Sokka's eyes, and then she looked up at him, sensing his stare. 

"Don't you give me that look, Dunderhead. You wouldn't kill the mooselion, and I didn't ask. Your turn. Just keep walking, a sense something…that way." She pointed towards the rising pathway of a cliff, leading towards the top of a hill. 

"You've _**GOT**_ to be kidding me," Sokka said, starring up at would could be a mile long hike.

Toph didn't answer, but grabbed Sokka's hand and continued walking. Sokka was complaining too much to notice the red in her cheeks, which matched his own.

"There has to be something down here, I mean do we really--" 

"All that's down here a mooselion cubs and baby badgermoles. You want meat don't you?"

Sokka only groaned. As usual, his earthbender friend was right. What a surprise.

The path, solely made of marble, continued upward, and after a while of silence, Sokka opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to ask Toph about the badgermole, he had never seen her treat anything with such care. Before he could release a sound, Toph covered Sokka's mouth with the hand that wasn't dragging him foreword by his sleeve. 

"The rocks here are very unstable," she whispered. Sokka nodded. "No loud sounds, no quick movements." To this he could only nod again, but he wanted to know why they were even going up this way if it wasn't safe. 


End file.
